Prince Harry Will Return to England in the Wake of Prince Philip’s Death
UPDATE—April 10, 2021, at 12:30 p.m. EST: It’s official: Prince Harry will be attending the funeral for his grandfather, Prince Philip, next Saturday. Buckingham Palace also confirmed that his wife, Meghan Markle, who is pregnant with their second child, won’t be joining him.
“The Duke of Sussex is planning to attend,” a royal spokesman said at a briefing, per People. “The Duchess of Sussex has been advised by her physician not to travel. So the duke will be attending.”
On April 9, the couple honored Prince Philip’s memory on the Archewell website. “In loving memory of His Royal Highness, The Duke of Edinburgh, 1921–2021,” the homepage reads. “Thank you for your service…you will be greatly missed.”
**ORIGINAL STORY: April 9, 2021—**Just after it was announced that Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth II, had passed away at the age of 99, reports emerged that Philip’s grandson, Prince Harry, would be visiting the United Kingdom to support his family and presumably attend some sort of memorial.
Harry has been in the United States since March 2020, after he and his wife, Meghan Markle, stepped back from their positions as working members of the royal family, a move they made official and permanent in early 2021. They’ve since given a wide-ranging interview to Oprah Winfrey about the issues, particularly racism, they faced while in Britain, citing the British press as a major source of stress which contributed to Markle’s mental health struggles. They are now living in Southern California and expecting their second child, a girl, this summer.
The rest of the royals were reportedly dismayed at some of the comments made in the Oprah interview, though that’s not the only thing keeping them apart: The pandemic, of course, makes international travel risky and complicated.
According to government guidelines, travelers are required to self-quarantine for 10 days after arriving in the U.K., though the Daily Mail reports that five days plus a negative test also meets the current criteria. Per their source, “Harry will absolutely do his utmost to get back to the U.K. and be with his family. He will want nothing more than to be there for his family, and particularly his grandmother, during this awful time.”
The source adds, “Meghan is obviously pregnant so she will need to take advice from her doctors about whether it is safe for her to travel, but I think Harry will definitely go.”
After a story about a member of the royal family being concerned about the color of their son Archie’s skin caught particular media attention, Meghan and Harry clarified that it was not Prince Philip who made the insensitive remark. It was also unclear how much Philip, who was ill for many weeks prior to his death, was fully apprised of the situation regarding the Sussexes and their interview.
Originally Appeared on Glamour
